29 January 2017•Update: 30 January 2017
EDIRNE, Turkey
Germany should not accept the asylum requests of 40 former Turkish soldiers allegedly linked to the July 15 defeated coup, Defense Minister Fikri Isik said on Sunday.
Speaking to journalists at the governor’s office in northwestern Edirne province, Isik said the soldiers had been dismissed from the military after the foiled coup, who then applied for asylum in Germany.
He said German authorities and judiciary “must assess them very carefully” and reject the asylum applications.
He also said he would raise the issue with his German counterpart at the NATO Security Conference in Munich next month, adding the asylum requests were “absolutely unacceptable".
“Our expectation from Germany is that they will never accept the asylum requests," he said.
He underlined that acceptance of any such requests would have consequences for bilateral relations.
Also, Isik invited all countries to cooperate with Turkey in its fight against terrorism, saying: “Turkey is sincere on this point, and it is fighting against terrorist organizations very seriously."
On Saturday, the defense minister also slammed Greek court’s decision to not extradite eight fugitive former Turkish soldiers linked to the defeated coup; he termed the court's order as a “political decision" and a "complete disappointment".
Reporting by Ozgun Tiran and Hakan Mehmet Sahin; Writing by Ilker Girit
